Common Sense
Common Sense 1
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
Published anonymously in January 1776 by an Englishman who had come to Philadelphia two years before, Common Sense became the most published work of the founding era. Printed over half a million times in a nation of three million people, it made a passionate case for liberty and against monarchy. Unpopular in later life for his attacks on Christianity, Paine will always be remembered for this pamphlet—a pamphlet often said to have launched the American Revolution.
January 10, 1776
On the Origin and Design of Government in General, With Concise Remarks on the English Constitution
Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them ...